Raptors counting on home court for advantage against Cavs

Toronto Raptors' Kyle Lowry speaks during an NBA basketball news conference in Toronto, Thursday. With Cleveland roaring to a Game 5 victory, Lowry and DeMar DeRozan will look to help Toronto even the Eastern Conference finals when the series shifts to Canada on Friday night.

Posted
Friday, May 27, 2016 3:43 am

By Ian Harrison

The Associated Press

TORONTO &GT;&GT; To keep their season alive, the Toronto Raptors are counting on a home-court advantage that saved them before.

LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers moved within one win of their second straight NBA Finals on Wednesday night by routing Toronto 116-78 in Game 5, the fourth lopsided game in a series where both teams have struggled mightily on the road.

Paced by the resurgent Kevin Love with 25 points, and 23 apiece from James and Kyrie Irving, the Cavs built a 43-point lead in the second half and demolished the Raptors. Toronto lost three games in Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena by a combined 88 points.

Fortunately, the Raptors are back home in front of their own frenzied fans and will host Game 6 on Friday night in Air Canada Centre, where the Cavs are 0-4 this season and lost Games 3 and 4 in this series.

After going 32-9 at home during the regular season, Toronto is 8-2 on its floor in the playoffs, and pulled off a Game 7 wins over Indiana and Miami.

The Raptors need it to be home sweet home one more time.

"We've got to play the same way we played the two home games we've had so far," Raptors guard Kyle Lowry said Thursday, a day after he was hounded by Cleveland's guards and scored just 13 on 5 of 12 shooting. "That's all we can do. Can't worry about the road. We might not get a chance to go back on the road if we don't play the right way tomorrow."

Toronto was overmatched from the opening tap in Game 5, falling behind by 18 after one quarter, 31 at halftime and finishing with 18 turnovers, five by Lowry.

In an all-over-the-map postseason, an elimination game against Cleveland is about as drastically bad as things have been for the Raptors, who led 3-2 in each of the first two rounds. Even so, Toronto guard DeMar DeRozan didn't seem too troubled after Thursday's film session.

"I don't know why we get so comfortable once we put ourselves in a tougher situation," DeRozan said. "We've been doing it all year and we always bounce back. I think we just thrive off adversity."

Cleveland's home record was one win better than Toronto's this season, and the Cavs are unbeaten in seven home playoff games since Game 6 of last year's finals. While his team has struggled in Toronto, coach Tyronn Lue doesn't want to have to put that streak on the line.

"We want to come in with the approach that this is our Game 7," Lue said. "We've worked hard all season to get to this point, and we want to treat this next game as our Game 7."

After Wednesday's big win, Irving said the hostile atmosphere the Cavs encountered in Toronto made them "probably my first legitimate two road games that I've experienced in my playoff career."

"Our communication, everything had to be a lot sharper," Irving said of battling the noise in the North. "We took a lot that we had to learn from that game, including myself. Going into Game 6, I feel a little bit more prepared than I was going into Game 3 and 4 of knowing what to expect, what it's going to be like."

If there was any good news for the Raptors in Game 5, it was the return of center Jonas Valanciunas, out since May 7 with a sprained right ankle. Casey said Valanciunas, who scored nine points in 18 minutes Wednesday, could provide offensive versatility in Game 6.

"Getting the ball in the post will be a calming effect for us," Casey said. "He's got to be able to make it out of the double team, as the guards do. We looked at that today. He can quarterback out of the low post as well as score out of the low post, and it gives us a third option."

Can home court advantage and a healthy Valanciunas prolong the deepest playoff run in Raptors history and help Toronto reach a third Game 7?

Casey hasn't given up hope.

"We've been here before," he said. "We're here at home. We've played well here at home. We are playing against one of the best teams in the NBA right now. Our guys take solace from being at home, understanding we've been here before and we can bounce back from it. I have faith we will bounce back."

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